new charger new union 5 paragraphs/ day what are the elements an idea needs? victim consequence -- success comes when we build on our strengths. -- where everybody thinks the same, nobody thinks very much -- "Ken and Floy did something at the meal that has a long Christian history but has been functionally lost in too many Christian homes. Ken and Floy invited the stranger in - not to scapegoat me, but to listen and to learn and to dialogue. Ken and Floy have a vulnerable and transparent faith. We didn't debate worldview; we talked about our personal truth and "what makes us tick." Ken and Floy didn't identify with me. They listened to me and identified with Christ. They were willing to walk the long journey with me in Christian compassion. During our meal, they did not share the gospel with me. After our meal, they did not invite me to church. Because of these glaring omissions to the Christian script as I had come to know it, when the evening ended and Pastor Ken said he wanted to stay in touch, I knew that it was truly safe to accept his open hand. Before I ever stepped foot in a church, I spent two years meeting with Ken and Floy on and off "studying" scripture and my heart. If Ken and Floy had invited me to church at that first meal I would have careened like a skateboard on a cliff, and would have never come back. Ken, of course, knows the power of the word preached but it seemed to me he also knew at the time that I couldn't come to church - it would have been too threatening, too weird too much. So, Ken was willing to bring the church to me. This gave me the room and the safety that I needed to match Ken and Floy's vulnerability and transparency. And so I opened up to them. I let them know who I was and what I valued. I invited them into my home and into my world. They met my friends, came to my dinner parties, saw me function in my real life. They made themselves safe enough for me to do this. -rosaria butterfield, "the secret thoughts of an unlikely convert"